Unfortunately, because of this, as soon as I saw it, it turned me cold, as I am not a fan of science fiction.
However, whilst the whole alien thing may have done nothing for me, the rest of the movie was absolutely stunning.
The performance of the actors, especially the children, in a movie where there is very little dialogue, was outstanding and so I applaud Krasinski for this.
As with many disaster movies of this type, we are presented with a fait accompli, and left to piece together what has happened – alien invasion, in case you haven’t caught on – from the clues we see in the backdrop. The movie focuses on one family, trying to survive in a world where the slightest noise could spell the end of their existence, as the aliens in question hunt by sound. If the sound you are making is drowned out by a louder sound (screaming under the waterfall scene) then you are safe……….
Now, let me think about this……..I don’t think this is strictly true. It is, if we are talking about a natural sound i.e. a waterfall or a rive,r or a sound made to distract the aliens away from something else i.e. the fireworks, but what if both sounds emanated from the same place…..? I’ll leave you with that thought.
Anyway, there are the scenes to highlight the point about being quiet and to show just how brutal these aliens are, but they are nothing compared to the climax of the film, when Blunt’s character goes into labour and the safe life of this family is basically over.
They do find the aliens’ weakness, but I won’t spoil it for you ?
I did have a few issues with this film.
One was about the sound that the birds made. Yes, they are in the sky and the aliens can’t reach them, BUT the aliens would still be drawn to their raucous sound, but they weren’t. Yet, a racoon bumbling along making funny squeaking noises met a rather nasty end, very quickly.
Secondly, the scene in the flooded basement. After us knowing that this area is clear of aliens and there is only one way in – through the hole in the floor, covered by a mattress (soundproofing) – how the hell did one of them get down there? This is a huge editing faux pas on the part of the film-makers.
My main bug-bare with this movie, you won’t be surprised to know, is with the alien itself. It’s not the fact that it’s an alien, per se, but that they showed it to you in glorious technicolour. This should not happen. I bang on about this a lot, but when you are creating a monster/alien that you have completely made up, it is not going to be what the audience create in their minds. It is best to hint at what it is – a claw, an eye, a foot etc and leave it to our imagination to conjure it in full. Don’t break the moment of the movie, by going “ta-da”, as it ruins the movie experience.
Despite my criticisms, this is an excellent film, from the point of view of creating tension and suspense, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Just don’t go in expecting a horror film because it ain’t one!